France Industry

France: Industrial production contracts sharply in May

July 22, 2014

In May, industrial production contracted a seasonally-adjusted 1.7% over the previous month. The reading contrasted April’s 0.3% expansion and market expectations of a 0.2% increase. May’s drop was the sharpest recorded since September 2012 and, according to the Statistical Institute, the decrease resulted from a deterioration in both the manufacturing and construction sectors.

On an annual basis, industrial production contracted 3.7% in May, which was down from the 2.4% drop tallied in April and marked the strongest contraction since November 2012. Annual average growth in industrial production edged down from the minus 0.4% tallied in April to minus 0.8% in May.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect industrial production to expand 0.6% in 2014, which is unchanged from last month’s forecast. For 2015, participants expect industrial output to expand 1.8%.

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